In Boyle Heights, gateway to East Los Angeles, the “Hotel Mariachi” has attracted musicians who have lived in and gathered on its adjacent plaza since 1889. Newly restored, the brick building embodies a triumphant struggle of preservation against the odds, and its origins open a portal into the Mexican pueblo’s centuries-old multiethnic past.
In Hotel Mariachi, their new book published by the University of New Mexico Press, authors Catherine L. Kurland and Enrique R. Lamadrid, along with photographer Miguel A. Gandert, explore mariachis, the hotel, and its surrounding community in words and images. Join them on Sunday, February 16, at 2 pm for an auditorium lecture and book signing graced by performances of the Santa Fe High School Mariachi Band in the magnificent acoustics of the History Museum’s lobby.
The event, co-hosted by Andrew Smith Gallery in Santa Fe, is free with admission; Sundays are free to NM residents.
Hotel Mariachi, part of UNM Press’ Querencia Series, provides a unique lens through which to view the history and culture of Mexicano California, and provides touching insights into the challenging lives of mariachi musicians. Their history and that of the community are personal to Kurland, the award-winning executive editor of Chronicles of the Trail, a journal of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Association. A descendent of the entrepreneur who built Hotel Mariachi, she possesses Californio roots that tie to early Los Angeles and Mexican American history.
LaMadrid explores mariachi music, poetry, and fiestas, and the role that Los Angeles played in their development, delving into the origins of the music and offering a deep account of mariachi poetics. He is a distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of New Mexico, as well as the author and translator of numerous books for both adults and children.
Gandert’s exquisite black-and-white photographs populate the book, documenting the hotel and the vibrant mariachi community of the “Garibaldi Plaza of Los Angeles.” Gandert is an internationally known documentary and art photographer and a distinguished professor and director of Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media at UNM.
Need photos? Click here for a high-resolution image of the book jacket. For other images, contact Zoya Lozoya, marketing associate, UNM Press, 505-277-3289 or zoya@unm.edu.
Thumbnail image: Miguel A. Gandert: Ambiciones relumbrantes / Shining Ambitions, from Hotel Mariachi, University of New Mexico Press.
